MUMBAI: Samoa, the Pacific Island is to get its first full-length feature film The Orator (O Le Tulafale), thanks to the hard work of its filmmaker Tauti Tusi Tamasese and a group of New Zealanders. The film, financed by the New Zealand Film Commission happens to be the first feature to be entirely shot in Samoa, in the Samoan language, with a Samoan cast and story.

Tamasese previously made a short film titled Sacred Spaces (Va Tapuia) set in a cyclone- ravaged Samoan village.

Said Samoa‘s deputy prime minister Misa Telefoni, "The film a beautiful and poignant love story that will provide a moving tribute to the magnificent splendor of Samoa and our people."

Produced by Catherine Fitzgerald with associate producers like Maiava Nathaniel Lees and Michael Eldred, the film is the story of Saili, a small man with a big heart, who must find the strength to speak up for those that he loves.

The film, that will star newcomers Fiaula Sanote as Saili and Tausili Pushparaj as his wife Vaaiga will be shot by New Zealand-based cinematographer Leon Narbey.

While Australia‘s Transmission Films will distribute the film in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, NZ Film, the sales arm of the New Zealand Film Corporation will handle the world sales of the film.

The film will start rolling on 27 October.